Spinal metastases of carotid paraganglioma. One case and review of the literature.

Paragangliomas of the carotid body are uncommon tumours usually regarded as benign or locally malignant. Metastasis occurs in 5 to 25% of the cases, involving mainly the liver, lung and bones. A case of carotid body tumour without histological evidence of malignancy but with local invasion and, subsequently, multiple spinal metastases is reported. Since the histological prognosis of the initial tumour is impossible to make in most cases, the authors underline the importance of signs of local invasion which is predictive of metastasis and requires regular monitoring with radionuclide bone scanning and MRI.